Buckle holder for threading strap



1959 R. v. HAVICAN BUCKLE HOLDER FOR THREADING STRAP Filed Aug. 9, 1957 n m oi mm MH IV d 7 n o m u G R TTORNEY United States Patent 2,872,087 BUCKLE HOLDER FOR THREADING STRAP Raymond V. Havican, Waterbury, Conu., assignor to Scovrll Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application August 9, 1957, Serial No. 677,383 3C1aims. (Cl. 223-49) This invention relates to a device for holding a buckle during the time that an operator is threading a garment strap through the slots or openings provided in such buckle. This particular type of buckle is slidable along one end portion of a strap or belt to adjust its length, and the buckle has snap fastener engagement with the other end of the strap to provide a quick coupling of the strap ends without disturbing the adjustment of the buckle on the strap end. The stud member of the snap fastener employed is attached to and is movable with the gripper element of the buckle in the buckle frame.

When assembling the garment strap to the buckle member, it is necessary to centralize the gripper element in the buckle frame to provide room for passage of the strap material through the opposed slots of the buckle. Also the slots in buckles of this type having a fastener element attached to a movable gripper member are usually of opposed arcuate shape. To accomplish this while holding the buckle in one hand and the strap material in the other is a tedious and time-consuming operation and very difficult to bend the ends of the strap transversely to more or less conform to the arcuate shape of the slots.

It is. one of the objects of this invention to make a simple device or holder in which the buckle can be held, with the gripping element centralized while the strap material is threaded therethrough.

The holder is designed to be set upon a work-table and anchored in place for proper use and is found to eliminate the difliculties and delays involved in the prior hand assembly methods, to the advantage of the operator in increasing the operators production, and to the advantage of the manufacturer by reducing the manufacturing cost of garments employing adjustable buckles.

Another object is to provide contour guide channels in the buckle holder so that the ends of the strap will approach the buckle in position to enter curved slots in the buckle. The invention will be better understood from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the buckle holding device showing the buckle and strap in position to be placed in the holder. I

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the buckle holder.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the buckle holder.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the buckle per se on an enlarged scale, and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the buckle frame showing thestrap material threaded therethrough.

In the drawings the numeral 10 designates the base plate of my buckle holder to which is attached an L- shaped buckle-positioning and bolder member 11 as by means of screws 12. A strap guiding block 13 is located directly behind and in contiguous relationship with the buckle holder member 11 and is held there in place as by screws 14. The rear surface 15 of the buckle holder 2 member 11 has a relatively shallow centrally located recessed portion 16 which together with the front surface 17 of the guiding block 13 provides a buckle-receiving pocket 18.

When threading the strap member 19 through the slots 20 and 21 of the buckle 22, it is necessary to centralize the stud member 23 and the gripper member 24 to permit passage of the strap 19 through the slots 20 and 21. For this purpose a centrally located post 25 is provided in the buckle-holder member 11. The rear side of the post 25 is provided with a vertical slot 25a which will accommodate the stud member 23 of the buckle assembly. On both sides of the post 25 are located opposed arcuate slots 26 and 27 which are substantially the same size as the slots 20 and 21 of the buckle 22. The slots 26 and 27 continue rearwardly through the guide block 13 becoming slightly wider toward the rear of said block to facilitate entry of the strap material 19.

When a buckle is to be assembled to a strap or belt, the buckle 22 is first inserted in the pocket 18 with the stud member 23 fitting into the vertical slot 25a of the central post 25. This assures central alignment of the gripper member 24 with respect to the slots 20 and 21 of the buckle 22. Next the ends of the strap material 19 are inserted in the arcuate slots 26 and 27 at the rear of the guide block 13 and are then pushed forward until 1 they engage and pass through the slots 20 and 21 of the buckle 22 at which point the operator can grasp the strap ends and pull them through the buckle and remove the assembled buckle from the holder by lifting it out by means of the strap. It should be noted that the shape of the arcuate slots 26 and 27 through the guide block 13 will cause the strap material to assume an arcuate shape conformable to the buckle slots 20 and 21 thus permitting easy passage of said strap material therethrough.

The front face of the buckle-holder member 11 is cut out at 28 to permit the operator to easily grasp the strap ends as they pass through the buckle and to give a clearer view of work being done.

While only one form of this invention is shown, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may comprehend other construction and arrangements coming within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for holding and assembling a strap into a buckle having a pair of opposed arcuate slots, said apparatus comprising a support, holder means in said support for slidably receiving and retaining said buckle in a vertical plane, and guide means aligned with said holder means having arcuate opposed guides that serve to arcuately bend the strap transversely preliminary to its insertion through the arcuate slots in said buckle.

2. Apparatus for holding andassembling a strap into a buckle having a pair of opposed slots and a slidable fastener element carrying a gripper member adapted to traverse said slots, said apparatus comprising a support, holding means on said support for slidably receiving and retaining said buckle in a vertical plane, other means on said support for receiving the fastener element and centralizing the gripper member relative to said slots, and guide means aligned with said holder means having opposed guides that serve to guide the strap preliminary to its insertion through the slots in said buckle.

3. Apparatus for holding and assembling a strap into a buckle having a pair of opposed arcuate slots and a slidable fastener element carrying a gripper member adapted to traverse said slots, said apparatus comprising receiving and retaining said buckle in a vertical plane,

Patented Feb. 3, 1959 said' slots, and guide means aligned with said holder means having arcuate opposed guides that serve to armately bend the strip transversely preliminary to its insertion through. the arcuate slots-in. saicLbnckle,

References Cited-in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS,

Spearrin May 16, 1950 James et al. Nov. 7, 1950 

